U.S. patent number 4,714,163 [Application Number 07/011,295] was granted by the patent office on 1987-12-22 for stackable shipping edge protector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Pakway Container Corp.. Invention is credited to Robert E. Reeves.
United States Patent |
4,714,163 |
Reeves |
December 22, 1987 |
Stackable shipping edge protector
Abstract
A stackable edge protector for use in packaging. A multi-ply
fibreboard construction having a right angle cross-section with
sufficient length to extend along the edge of the product to be
protected. Adhesive pads facing inwardly on the construction
removably secure the edge protector to the product. Outwardly
opening recesses located on the outer surface of the main body
nestably receive the adhesive pads of an identical edge protector
when stacked thereatop. The recesses are larger in size than the
adhesive pads preventing stacked edge protectors from adhering
together.
Inventors: |
Reeves; Robert E.
(Indianapolis, IN) |
Assignee: |
Pakway Container Corp.
(Indianapolis, IN)
|
Family
ID: |
21749743 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/011,295 |
Filed: |
February 5, 1987 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/518; 206/320;
206/521; 206/586; 248/345.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
59/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
59/00 (20060101); A47B 095/00 (); B65D
081/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;206/320,453,518,520,521,586 ;217/36,52,53 ;229/DIG.1
;248/345.1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Foster; Jimmy G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Woodard, Emhardt, Naughton Moriarty
& McNett
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A stackable shipping edge protector comprising:
a main body having a right angle shaped cross section extending
substantially the length thereof and forming a pair of inwardly
facing surfaces and a pair of outwardly facing surfaces; and,
pressure sensitive adhesive means provided on said pair of inwardly
facing surfaces and having a first length and a first width being
operable to removably secure said main body to a corner edge of a
product to protect same during shipment thereof; and wherein:
said main body includes a recessed portion on said pair of
outwardly facing surfaces aligned with said adhesive means located
on said pair of inwardly facing surfaces, said recessed portion of
a size greater than said adhesive means to nestably receive said
adhesive means on an identical shipping edge protector stacked
thereatop without adhesively securing stacked edge protectors
together.
2. The shipping edge proector of claim 1 wherein:
said main body is of a multi-ply construction and has an outer
sheet and an inner sheet fixedly secured together, said outer sheet
has an opening extending therethrough forming said recessed portion
which has a second length and a second width greater than
respectively said first length and said first width, said adhesive
means is secured to said inner sheet adjacent said opening.
3. The shipping edge protector of claim 2 wherein:
said main body includes at least two fibreboard sheets fixedly
secured together.
4. A shipping device for a product comprising:
a plurality of stackable shipping edge protectors each including a
main body having a right angle shaped cross section extending
substantially the length thereof and forming a pair of inwardly
facing surfaces and a pair of outwardly facing surfaces, and
further including pressure sensitive adhesive means provided on
said pair of inwardly facing surfaces and having a first length and
a first width being operable to removably secure said main body to
a corner edge of a product to protect same during shipment thereof,
said main body including a removed portion on said pair of
outwardly facing surfaces aligned with said adhesive means located
on said pair of inwardly facing surfaces, said removed portion
having a second length and a second width greater than respectively
said first length and said first width to nestably receive said
adhesive means on an identical shipping edge protector stacked
thereatop without adhesively securing stacked edge protectors
together; and,
packing means surrounding said edge protectors when said edge
protectors are positioned on corner edges of a product to be
shipped.
5. The shipping device of claim 4 wherein:
said packing means is a box holding said plurality of edge
protectors secured to a product to be shipped.
6. The shipping device of claim 4 wherein:
said plurality of edge protectors are secured to a product to be
shipped and said packing means includes a thin plastic sheet
wrapped around said edge protectors and said product.
7. The shipping device of claim 4 wherein:
said main body is of a multi-ply construction and has an outer
sheet and an inner sheet fixedly secured together, said outer sheet
has an opening extending therethrough forming said removed portion,
said adhesive means is secured to said inner sheet adjacent said
opening.
8. The shipping edge protector of claim 7 wherein:
said main body includes at least two fibreboard sheets fixedly
secured together.
9. A stackable shipping edge protector comprising:
a multi-ply fibreboard main body having an L shaped cross section
extending substantially the length thereof, said main body having
an outer sheet and an inner sheet fixedly secured together, said
outer sheet including a pair of openings extending therethrough
with said inner sheet extending longitudinally with said outer
sheet and extending over each of said pair of openings forming a
pair of recesses in said main body opening outwardly; and,
a pair of exposed adhesive means to removably secure said main body
to an external object, said adhesive means fixedly secured to said
inner sheet to face inwardly being located adjacent said pair of
recesses to be nestably received in a pair of recesses of an
adjacent identical edge protector when stacked thereatop.
10. The edge protector of claim 9 wherein:
said edge protector is grouped with a plurality of identical edge
protectors removably secured to corners of a product to protect
same during shipment thereof, and further with packing means
surrounding said edge protectors.
11. The shipping device of claim 10 wherein:
said packing means includes a box holding said plurality of edge
protectors secured to a product to be shipped.
12. The shipping device of claim 10 wherein:
said plurality of edge protectors are secured to said product to be
shipped and said packing means includes a thin plastic sheet
wrapped around said edge protectors and said product.
13. The shipping device of claim 10 wherein:
said main body has opposite ends with said said pair of exposed
adhesive means located respectively equidistant from said opposite
ends.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is in the field of protective shipping devices
utilized with a variety of shippable products. The traditional
method of shipping a product such as a stove or other such large
product involves packing the product within a fibreboard box having
fibreboard inserts positioning and holding the product within the
box. Alternatively, the product may be wrapped in a heat shrinkable
plastic sheet with fibreboard inserts being utilized between the
product and plastic sheet.
The corner edges of a product may become damaged during storage and
shipment, particularly when the product is not contained within a
fibreboard box. Thus, it is desirable to place edge protectors on
each edge of the product when the heat shrink plastic method of
packaging is utilized. The edge protector must be self-adhering to
facilitate the packaging process. Likewise, the edge protectors
must be stackable for storage purposes prior to use. In the event
self-adhering adhesive is applied to the edge protector, then the
adhesive must be initially covered with a wrapping such as release
paper to prevent the edge protectors from adhering together when
stacked prior to usage. The release paper must therefore be removed
and discarded for each protector adding to the packaging cost and
providing clutter. Disclosed herein is a self-adhering corner
protector with exposed adhesive thereon which is nestable within
recesses of adjacent edge protectors allowing the protectors to be
stacked without adhering together.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of the present invention is a stackable shipping
edge protector comprising a main body having a right angle shaped
cross section extending substantially the length thereof and
forming a pair of inwardly facing surfaces and a pair of outwardly
facing surfaces, and, pressure sensitive adhesive means provided on
the pair of inwardly facing surfaces and having a first length and
a first width being operable to removably secure the main body to a
corner edge of a product to protect same during shipment thereof,
and wherein the main body includes a recessed portion on the pair
of outwardly facing surfaces aligned with the adhesive means
located on the pair of inwardly facing surfaces, the recessed
portion of a size greater than the adhesive means to nestably
receive the adhesive means on an identical shipping edge protector
stacked thereatop without adhesively securing stacked edge
protectors together.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a shipping device
for a product comprising a plurality of stackable shipping edge
protectors each including a main body having a right angle shaped
cross section extending substantially the length thereof and
forming a pair of inwardly facing surfaces and a pair of outwardly
facing surfaces, and further including pressure sensitive adhesive
means provided on the pair of inwardly facing surfaces and having a
first length and a first width being operable to removably secure
the main body to a corner edge of a product to protect same during
shipment thereof. the main body including a removed portion on the
pair of outwardly facing surfaces aligned with the adhesive means
located on the pair of inwardly facing surfaces, the removed
portion having a second length and a second width greater than
respectively the first length and the first width to nestably
receive the adhesive means on an identical shipping edge protector
stacked thereatop without adhesively securing stacked edge
protectors together, and, packing means surrounding the edge
protectors when the edge protectors are positioned on corner edges
of a product to be shipped.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stackable
edge protector with exposed self-adhering adhesive.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved shipping device for a product.
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
stackable self-adhering shipping post which may be utilized with
heat shrinkable plastic sheet for packaging pruposes.
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be
apparent from the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of an edge protector
incorporating the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the edge protector of FIG.
1.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing two edge protectors to be
stacked together.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a shipping container having a
product stored therein with the edge protector of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of
the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment
illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to
describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no
limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such
alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device,
and such further applications of the principles of the invention as
illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to
one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
Referring now more particularly to the FIGS. 1 and 2, there is
shown a stackable edge protector 10 incorporating the present
invention. Edge protector 10 includes a main body 11 having a right
angle or L-shaped cross-section extending substantially the length
thereof. Main body 11 has a pair of inwardly facing surfaces 12 and
13 and a pair of outwardly facing surfaces 14 and 15. Main body 11
may be produced from a multi-ply fibreboard construction and in the
embodiment shown in the drawing has an outer sheet 16 and an
identically sized inner sheet 17 fixedly secured together by glue.
Outer sheet 16 has a pair of openings 18 and 19 which are located
respectively equidistant from the opposite ends 20 and 21 of the
main body. That is, distance 22 from the edge of end 20 to the end
of opening 18 is the same ad distance 23 which is from the edge of
end 21 to the edge of opening 19. Each opening 18 and 19 is of a
right angle configuration in that each opening extends equidistant
across the width of surfaces 14 and 15. Inner sheet 17 extends
entirely interiorally across openings 18 and 19 forming a pair of
recesses which open outwardly in the main body.
A pair of adhesive pads 24 and 25 are fixedly secured to surfaces
12 and 13 and face inwardly. Adhesive pads 24 and 25 have a right
angle configuration and extend equidistant across the width of
surfaces 12 and 13. Likewise, the pads are located equidistant
fromt he opposite end of main body 11. That is, pad 24 is located a
distance 26 from end 20 of main body 11 whereas pad 25 is located a
distance 27 from end 21 of the main body with distances 26 and 27
being equal. Adhesive pads 24 and 25 have a size smaller than the
size of openings 18 and 19 to allow the pads to be nestably
received within the openings when stacked such as shown in FIG. 3.
Thus, while distances 22 and 23 are equal, distance 26 is slightly
greater than distance 22 to allow the adhesive pad to be freely
received within the opening. The length 28 of each pad 24 and 25 is
less than the length 30 of each opening 18 and 19, whereas the
width 29 of each leg of pad 24 and pad 25 is less than the width 31
of each leg of opening 18 and 19. Most importantly, the thickness
32 of each pad 24 and 25 is less than the thickness 33 of outer
sheet 16. Thus, when two identical edge protectors 34 and 35 (FIG.
3) are stacked together, the adhesive pads 24 and 25 are nestably
received within openings 18 and 19 without the adhesive means
contacting either the edges defining openings 18 or 19, or the
inner sheet 17 which extends across each opening. It is therefore
unnecessary to use a release paper to cover the adhesive pads prior
to usage. The edge protectors may therefore be stacked prior to
usage without the edge protectors adhering together.
The pressure sensitive adhesive pads 24 and 25 are operable to
removably secure the edge protector to a corner edge of a product
to protect same during shipment thereof. For example, a product
such as a stove 40 is shown positioned within a fibreboard box 41
with a plurality of edge protectors 42 being removably secured to
each corner edge of the stove. In addition, a heat shrinkable
plastic sheet 43 may be utilized to surround the stove having the
edge protectors secured thereto. In certain cases, adequate
packaging is provided through the utilization of the heat
shrinkable plastic with the edge protectors without the outer
firbreboard box being utilized.
Many variations are contemplated and included in the present
invention. For example, in lieu of utilizing a multi-ply fibreboard
construction for the edge protector, the main body of the procector
may be produced from a pair of right angle configured plastic
members heat sealed together with the recess formed in the outer
sheet and the adhesive means secured to the inner sheet in the
manner previously disclosed.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in
the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be
considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it
being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown
and described and that all changes and modifications that come
within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.
* * * * *